Ebola is a rare and serious infectious disease that occurs in Africa and is accompanied by bleeding in the body. The official name of the disease is Ebola haemorrhagic fever, caused by a virus (the filovirus). Other filoviruses that may cause haemorrhagic fever are the Marburg virus and the Lassa virus.

The disease can be contracted only through direct physical
contact with a patient or as a result of slaughtering and eating a
sick animal. If contaminated, there is a considerable risk of
dying; in Africa, over half of sufferers die. It is unknown whether
this is also influenced by poorer medical facilities. There is no
vaccine or proper treatment against Ebola, and treatment mainly
consists of fighting complications. The Ebola disease was named
after the Ebola river in Congo, where the first case of the disease
was presented in 1976. In that year, outbreaks occurred in Sudan
and former Zaire (currently the Democratic Republic of the Congo).
In the years after that, Ebola caused several epidemics in African
countries. Early 2014, an outbreak was reported in West Africa, in
the Guinea rain forest area on the border with Sierra Leone and
Liberia.

Contamination and symptoms

Bats are the most probable source for filoviruses. Viruses have
been found in various bat species that are native to Africa and
which can also spread the virus through their defecation. Various
animal species living in the African tropical rain forest can be
contaminated with the virus, such as chimpanzees, gorillas and
antelopes. The slaughtering and consumption of these animals can
also lead to becoming infected by the virus.

After becoming ill, humans can contaminate other humans through
direct contact with blood, defecation, urine, sperm, vomit and
sweat. The spreading of the virus through the air (by sneezing or
coughing, for instance), has never been demonstrated. On average,
the time between being infected by the Ebola virus and becoming
sick is a week. A patient is infectious if he/she suffers from
symptoms such as fever, headaches and muscle aches, in addition to
other symptoms that may occur. The most characteristic aspect of
the disease is that the virus may cause inflammation in small blood
vessels, possibly resulting in patients suffering from
haemorrhaging in various parts of the body. This is the time when
the patient is most contagious.

Spread and frequency

Ebola is an extremely rare disease with occasional local
outbreaks in Africa. People can only be contaminated after direct
contact with other people or with animals infected with the Ebola
virus.

Control and prevention

An outbreak of Ebola is controlled by quickly recognising and
separating (isolating) patients to prevent new contagions. People
who have been in direct contact with a patient are
followed/monitored for a period of time to see whether they become
ill. If so, they are immediately admitted to hospital, where they
are nursed separately from other patients. Contamination can be
determined through a blood test in the laboratory.